London City Airport’s Jet Centre has launched a new charter broker incentive program to encourage new operators and travelers to use the airfield, which boasts quick links to central London, especially the Square Mile. The airport wants people “to understand the value this represents in terms of both customer time and experience.”
This new broker incentive scheme will reward those that introduce their clients to LCY as a travel option. The airport said it wants to become “the gateway of choice for passengers arriving and leaving London.”
The program will be in place for all of 2017 and incentives awarded for every flight that is placed through LCY. It will reinforce another recent LCY initiative that prices charter flights at a competitive rate to other airports in London, while offering “a far superior ground time to the most frequently requested destinations of Mayfair and Kensington.”
The Jet Centre is housed in a separate self-contained facility with dedicated security and immigration staffing and claims a 90-second passenger transfer from car to aircraft. The facility has recently been awarded IS-BAH certification and says it has “full support services on site, including limousines and black cabs on account, a partnership with U.S.-headquartered in-flight catering company Air Culinaire, aircraft cleaning and a dedicated fuel bowser.”
Aircraft types recently approved to operate London City’s steep approach (5.5 degrees) include the Bombardier Global 6000, Dassault Falcon 8X, Embraer Legacy 450, Cessna Citation Latitude and Sovereign+ and Gulfstream G280. Crews must also be separately approved.
Meanwhile, the airport has launched a $427.5 million private sector infrastructure investment. It will gain seven new aircraft stands at the main terminal, a full length parallel taxiway (to avoid aircraft having to back-taxi), and a terminal expansion.
The development will allow LCY to welcome 6.5 million passengers, operate 45 aircraft movements per hour and accommodate the next generation of regional jets, including the Bombardier C Series CS100 and the Embraer E2.
Work is scheduled to begin this summer, coinciding with the airport’s 30th year of operation.